Clarke has outside chance

The Northampton centre knows that a good showing against Newcastle today will help him on his way to a deserved opportunity for the England No 13 slot

JON CLARKE has played just one season at outside-centre, a position that Wayne Smith, the All Blacks assistant coach, refused to try him in during his tenure at Northampton. He also used to have an attitude problem according to Paul Grayson, Smith’s successor at Franklin’s Gardens. It was not so much that Clarke was a bad boy, just that he was more laid back than a Jack Johnson tune.

None of which explains why Brian Ashton, the England backs coach, hot-footed it up to a Northampton training session last week especially to watch Clarke being put through his paces.

We can reveal that Ashton went because England are looking at Clarke as a long-term solution to their lack of midfield bite. Why? Because, unlike other outside-centre contenders such as Mathew Tait, Jamie Noon and James Simpson-Daniel, the 22-year-old has the missing ingredient. At 6ft 3in and 15st he’s a big